Remember Your Creator

One Sunday my childhood pastor and mentor invited me to his home for lunch. I was eager to accept his offer. Spending time with him was a priority for me. Raymond was in his 70’s and it was an opportunity to hear his stories of the old days and vigorously debate politics or theology … but usually both.

We arrived at his home and set about making lunch: Kraft macaroni and cheese, green beans, and pickled beets. Raymond set me at the stove stirring the noodles so they didn’t stick together. I turned and saw him standing on the 3 1/2 foot high kitchen counter with a glass bowl from the top shelf.

Just as he was preparing to jump off the counter I exclaimed, “What are you doing?”

“I used to do this all the time as a kid,” he replied. Then he jumped. I “caught” him as he knocked both of us to the floor.

Why is it that as we get older we keep thinking we can do the same things we did decades earlier without any consequences or limitations?

I figure there’s a good reason you’re old: God protected you from the stupid things you did as a kid. Now that you’re not a kid anymore, remember you’re not a kid anymore. Your body is different and you can’t do the things you did when you were 12, 22 or 42. Growing older is a part of life. Accept it. Live with it gratefully and gracefully.

Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well. Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:6-7).